FACTBOX-Venezuela's likely election candidates after Chavez's death

March 09, 2013|Reuters

CARACAS, March 9 (Reuters) - Venezuela has called apresidential election for April 14 that will likely pit HugoChavez's protege, acting President Nicolas Maduro, againstcentrist opposition leader Henrique Capriles. Here are some details about the two men:

NICOLAS MADURO * A former bus driver and trade unionist with Caracas publictransport, the burly and mustachioed Maduro, 50, is a staunchChavez loyalist chosen by him as the preferred successor. * Maduro entered politics in 2000 as a legislator in theNational Assembly, where his combative defense of Chavez'spolicies made him one of the president's proteges. * He rose to become president of the legislature, a postlater occupied by his wife, Cilia Flores, a lawyer. When Chavezwas sent to prison following a failed 1992 coup attempt, Floresled the legal team that won his freedom two years later. NowVenezuela's attorney general, she and Maduro are seen as the "power couple" in government circles. * As foreign minister for six years from 2006, Maduro was afaithful ambassador of Chavez's views, including critiques ofglobal affairs from a hard left-wing stance. He won plauditsfrom foreign diplomats, however, for his affable style. * Chavez named Maduro vice president in October 2012,reveling in his working-class roots. "He was a bus driver. Howthey mock him, the bourgeoisie," Chavez laughed. * Maduro became even closer to Chavez after the president'scancer was first diagnosed in mid-2011, often at his side inHavana and giving brief updates in speeches to Venezuelans. * Hours before Chavez's death, Maduro accused Venezuela's"imperialist" enemies of infecting Chavez with the disease. Healso ordered the expulsion of a U.S. Embassy's Air Force attachefor allegedly trying to stir up a military plot against thegovernment. * Maduro's humble roots appeal to Chavez's many poor supporters. Polls last year showed Capriles to be more popular,but the equation has changed since Maduro got Chavez's blessing,and he is viewed as the favorite. * Chavez's endorsement of Maduro has quieted the ambitionsof other powerful Socialist Party figures, such as DiosdadoCabello, who had been widely considered a candidate for the topjob in the future. Cabello, a military man with close ties tothe armed forces and business, is not as well liked as Maduroamong Venezuelans.